YouTube Buying Twitch for $1 Billion?

Youtube May Want to Buy Twitch.TV

YouTube may be the largest online video platform, but that’s apparently not enough. According to an article by Variety, YouTube has reached a deal to purchase game-streaming website Twitch for more than $1 billion.

YouTube and Twitch have declined to comment on the deal, leading many to speculate it is just a rumor. Variety does not identify their sources, but write that they expect this move will likely be challenged by government regulators concerned about anticompetitive issues with the internet video market. If it does go through though, it’s a very smart move for YouTube.

Twitch’s Advantages Over YouTube

Twitch has been up and coming since its inception in 2011, and has provided an alternative to YouTube for gamers looking to stream online. Many gamers have made the switch to Twitch from YouTube, appreciating a more refined experience with better chat and different overall atmosphere.

Twitch also has YouTube beat in the community department. YouTube has such a broad interest base that it can be difficult to form a close community. On Twitch though, everyone is there to watch or play games.

Twitch has also made livestreaming much easier than on YouTube. One of the ways they have done this is making livestreams discoverable by clearly posting on their homepage what is currently livestreaming. Because they also categorize streams by the game being played, people can easily find what they are interested in and tune in.

Of course, one of the biggest advantages to Twitch over YouTube is that the copyright police aren’t as present. Partly this is because livestreaming is more difficult to monitor for copyright, but also because Twitch is specifically game-oriented, they don’t have to have copyright policies to cover as broad a base as YouTube.

POLL: How would you feel about YouTube wanting to Purchase Twitch TV

Have an Opinion that you want to share? Share your answer by voting in the Poll and don’t forget to comment down below, or to give us a share!

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How will this Affect you as a Streamer or YouTuber?

Not much is clear on how this will affect you but below are some different takes on what popular YouTubers think of this. In the first video, we see Kripparrian who can be seen streaming on Twitch on a daily basis.

In the second corner, we have someone as famous as TotalBiscuit who decided to cover this topic in one of his YouTube videos. Totalbiscuit is better known for his high quality reviews of games on YouTube, as well as being part of the Twitch community by hosting the Co-Optional Podcast on his channel and playing/pre-screening games for his reviews on Twitch.

What to Take from this Story:

Whether or not the rumor is true, and YouTube is actually trying to buy Twitch, there’s no doubt that the Twitch has hit the big leagues. Not only is YouTube paying more than $1 billion totally believable, but some speculate that Twitch would be a steal at that price, considering where it seems to be heading. According to the Global Internet Phenomena report by Sandvine, Twitch has also broken into the top 15 websites in terms of bandwidth use during peak times in North America.

What do you think about the potential YouTube-Twitch purchase? Comment below!